The Minister of Investment, Dr. Mahmoud Mohieldin held a meeting with members of the Supreme Insurance Council and the Insurance Federation of Egypt. The meeting discussed some proposed amendments to draft law # 10/1981 on supervising and controlling insurance.
Dr. Mohieldin said that discussions with the Supreme Insurance Council highlighted the role of the Egyptian Insurance Supervisory Authority and the importance of achieving its financial independence, as well as, creating a fund to protect policyholders in case insurance companies are unable to pay claims. It was recommended to finalize, without delay, the amendments to the law of private insurance fund that provides saving and investments channels and insurance protections for participants.
The meeting discussed EISA's agreements of cooperation with different regional controlling and financial bodies, to exchange expertise and information, and provide training grants from countries such as USA, Germany and England.
Amendments to law # 10/1981 include major international standards and principles of supervision such as risk-based supervision and financial and administrative independency of supervision.
The discussions, Dr. Mohieldin added, were concerned with complete separation between life insurance, and property insurance, since each activity has its own nature and carries essential differences in technical, administrative and financial accountability.
The amendments discussed included requirements for performing brokerage, including registration, and having a professional responsibility document. Discussions dealt with increasing the minimum capital of insurance companies (currently LE 30 million) to cope with changes in the insurance market.
Dr. Mohieldin said that these amendments should increase the quality of insurance service at competitive prices. The Minister of Investment asked for more variety of investment portfolios of insurance companies in cooperation with the Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank of Egypt.
Dr. Mohieldin highlighted some positive features in the insurance sector, such as the larger number of companies operating in Egypt, presence of standards of competition among companies and allowing solidarity insurance companies to operate in the Egyptian market.
Indicators of the contribution of insurance sector in national savings are still limited, Dr. Mohieldin said. This entails more empowerment of EISA as its role is focused on protecting policyholders' rights, and supervising service quality and payments of claims.
EISA chairman, Dr. Adel Mounir said that amendments aim at increasing EISA's independence as a supervisory agency and providing a legislative environment that helps to create strong insurance entities. Source: Ministry of Investment
